The Choices We Make
by Shanna193
Summary: Lucy was the Light of Fairy Tail. She was always able to bring a smile to the faces of her guild mates. However, when one day the boy she trusted the most turns his back on her, her world gets turned upside down. Well at least that's how she thinks. But will the one she least expected to be there for her turn her world right side up once again?
1. Chapter 1

The Choices We Make

By Shanna193

~Summary~

Lucy was the Light of Fairy Tail. She was always able to bring a smile to the faces of her guild mates. However, when one day the boy she trusted the most turns his back on her, her world gets turned upside down. Well at least that's how she thinks. But will the one she least expected to be there for her turn her world right side up once again?

Chapter 1:

~Lucy's POV~

The sun shone down on the happy blonde as she walked towards the guild. Lucy balanced on the side of the road while her spirit, Plue, waddled next to her on the street. She hummed as she walked, excited to get to the noisy guild. Sure she was troubled by how destructive her guild mates were, but she still loved all of them nonetheless. She wouldn't choose to be in any other guild. A strong breeze blew Lucy's golden hair in her face and when she went to move her hair out of her face, she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

"LUCY!" The celestial mage turned to see a shirtless Gray running towards her and waving his arm in the air.

"Good morning, Gray!" Lucy replied cheerfully when he finally caught up to her. The ice make wizard bent over breathing heavily and smiled up to the girl he saw as his little sister. "What's wrong? Why were you in such a hurry?"

"Running….from….Juvia…" he said between breaths.

"Stalking you again?" Lucy giggled. "Why don't you just admit that you like her? I'm sure that once you two get together she'll tone down a little bit."

"Yeah, or she might just crazier and try to jump at every chance she gets to make babies!" Gray exclaimed. "I mean I do like her. It's just that I don't want us to get together when she's so crazy about me. I want her to not just think about me all the time, but to also think of other things that are important to her, you know?"

"That makes sense. I guess if you got together while she's still 'Gray-sama crazy' it might seem as if you were pressured into going out with her. You want to be together because you both genuinely love each other. I'm sure it'll happen someday soon!" Lucy replied.

"Thanks Lucy for understanding." He said smiling.

"No problem!" the two wizards made their way to the guild where you could still hear all the noise from outside and with the huge doors shut. Gray slammed the door open and immediately made his way over to Natsu and started a fight with Elfman joined shouting something about being loudly, then Erza got involved when Natsu knocked over a slice of her cake. Soon the majority of the guild was in a giant fight with the exception of Wendy, Levy, Laxus, the Raijinshuu, Lisanna, and Mirajane. Lucy shook her head and made her way to the bar and sat in her usual seat. Mira smiled at her and handed her a strawberry milkshake. Lucy thanked the barmaid and turned to Levy.

"Ne~ Lu-chan, do you have a new chapter for me to read?" the solid script mage asked excitedly.

"Gomen Levy-chan, it's not done yet, but I promise that I'll have it finished soon."

"Alright I'll wait then! I just really want to know what happens next in your story. It's so good!" the girl squealed. Lucy giggled in response and turned to hide the blush on her face.

"LUSHY~!" The celestial mage turned to see a blue cat flying towards her. Happy flew into the blonde's chest and looked up smiling. "Natsu said he wants to go on a job! We need money so that I can buy more fish!"

"Hai, hai. What kind of job does Natsu have in mind this time?" The blonde asked the cat.

"This one!" Natsu said slamming down a request onto the bar. Lucy looked down to see that it was a request to find and get rid of a dark guild by the name of Ghoul Spirit. The dark guild was supposedly located northwest of Shirotsume Town in a large forest. It looked like the job would last about a week or two with a reward of 800,000 Jewel.

"Alright, sounds good. Who's going to be coming with us? The usual Team Natsu?" she asked.

"Yeah! But this time Lisanna is gonna come with us too!" Natsu exclaimed spewing fire from his mouth.

"I hope I won't be too much trouble." Lisanna said coming up to stand next to Natsu.

"Don't worry Lis! If anything happens I'll just kick everyone's ass!" Natsu shouted.

"Oi flame brain! Calm down will ya?!" Gray said hitting the pink- sorry salmon- headed mage.

"What'd you say popsicle for brains?!" Natsu shouted at the ice make mage.

"Enough fighting both of you!" Erza yelled, effectively stopping the fight.

"AYE SIR!" The two mages replied in unison.

"Now we will leave today so meet at the station in one hour." Erza said taking charge. "There we will board a train to Shirotsume and proceed to the mayor's residence, for he is the one who has posted the request. If we're lucky we could finish the job early and without incident so remember that we all must work carefully and diligently. We don't want to cause anymore trouble with the Magic Council or with the Master. Understood?"

Team Natsu plus Lisanna agreed and went their separate ways. As Lucy began to leave the guild she was called over by Cana who was sitting on a table with a barrel or beer next to her. Her cards were arranged in front of her as she frowned at them.

"What's wrong, Cana?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not exactly sure. I did a reading with my cards and all they seem to tell me is that something is going to go wrong in your job today. Just be careful and watch your surroundings. I'm getting a bad feeling about the whole thing, okay?" Cana warned.

"Right. I'll make sure to keep an eye out." With that, the blonde made her way out of the guild, unaware that a certain dragon slayer kept his eyes on her until she was no longer in sight.

When Lucy got back to her apartment she began to pack her suitcase, however, Cana's warning echoed through her mind. _What did Cana mean when she said that something was going to go wrong?_ Lucy thought.

~Time Skip to outside the dark guild~

They all hid behind trees that surround Ghoul Spirit, waiting for a signal from Erza to attack. However, thanks to a certain pink haired idiot that plan was ruined. Natsu charged into the dark guild, impatient and ready for a fight. Lucy and everyone else charged in behind Natsu, who had already started fighting.

"Fire dragon's roar!" Natsu was seen breathing fire at the dark wizards surrounding him. Not wanting to be left out, Gray joined in on the fight. "Ice make: Lance!" Erza had already equipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor and was fighting alongside Lisanna in her Animal Soul: Cat form. Lucy joined in as well and shouted, "Open! Gate of the Lion. Leo!"

A flash of light appeared and revealed Lucy's lion spirit dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, with his shaggy orange hair spiked all over the place. "I will fight to protect my princess as her knight in shining armor!" Loke exclaimed. "Regulus Impact!"

Loke had knocked out several of the dark mages while Lucy used her fleuve d'étoiles to take out more. While Lucy and Loke fought back to back, the rest of Team Natsu began to wrap up their fights. Soon the fighting stopped and the Fairy Tail mages walked deeper into the guild where they knew that the stronger mages and master were located. They seemed to have walked into a sort of throne room. In the middle and sitting on the throne was what Lucy assumed was the master. Surrounding the master were three other mages with an evil glint in their eyes.

"Welcome, children of Makarov, we've been expecting you. Welcome to Ghoul Spirit." The master said standing from his throne.

"We are here on behalf of the mayor of Shirotsume to dissolve your guild! You have hurt far too many people to be left alone!" Erza shouted.

"Ah Titania Erza. Such a pleasure to finally meet you. Come we shall see how well Fairy Tail's strongest female is!" exclaimed the master. Erza jumped into the air and equipped into her Purgatory armor and proceeded to fight off the master of Ghoul Spirit.

The remainder of Team Natsu split to fight off the three mages of the dark guild. Lisanna and Gray each took on a mage of their own while Lucy and Natsu paired up. They faced a man covered in scars several marring the man's face. He smirked at the pair then began to charge.

"Fire dragon's iron fist!" Natsu engulfed his hands in fire and proceeded to punch the scarred man repeatedly causing him to fly back and to hit the wall. The man staggered as he got up continuing to smirk at the pair and piss off the fire dragon slayer. Lucy attacked the man with her whip knocking him down for the second time, but he continued to get up once again. As Natsu began to charge the man once more a piercing scream echoed throughout the room. Natsu turned and saw Lisanna get hit by her opponent, knocking her out cold. Without thinking twice Natsu abandoned Lucy and ran to help Lisanna.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted to the dragon slayer, but he kept running towards the silver haired take over mage.

The scarred man caught Lucy's attention when he started laughing. She turned to see the man hunched over, laughing in a creepy way. She gulped.

"Now that the annoying one is gone, let's have some fun. Tell me do you like explosions?!" the man exclaimed. He threw his hand out in Lucy's direction and a sequence of explosions went off, leading towards her. Lucy rolled out of the way, barely making it in time. She reached down to her keys, but couldn't find the strength to summon any of her spirits. She was too low on magic. The scarred man continued to laugh and send off explosions with Lucy barely dodging the lethal attacks. Lucy was getting weaker, her magic was low and she was heavily injured from all the explosions. She felt like she could no longer move and dropped to her knees. She looked up to see the scarred man throw one more attack her way.

The explosion hit her directly in her stomach causing her to collapse, blood flowing out of her steadily. The celestial mage's vision began to blur as she struggled to stay conscious. The blonde heard Gray shout her name, but she couldn't respond. As her vision started to fade the last thing she saw was Gray take out the scarred man and run to her.

She gave a small smile to Gray, and then blacked out.

~Gray's POV~

"LUCY!" Gray had just finished off his opponent when he saw Lucy get hit with an explosion. He ran as fast as he could towards the girl, trying to reach her in time to save her. "Ice Make: Excalibur!"

Gray formed an ice sword and hit the man who had hurt Lucy. He hit him repeatedly with the sword until the man fell, unconscious. The ice mage turned quickly and ran to Lucy. He saw her on the ground, bleeding profusely.

"Lucy! Oi Lucy! Stay with me!" Gray shouted for the blonde to wake up, she remained unconscious. Gray turned, looking for his teammates. Erza had finished off the master and was in the process of restraining him, he saw her looking over to him and Lucy repeatedly with worry in her eyes. He then turned to Natsu only to grow angry. Natsu was helping up Lisanna and was laughing about how he had saved the day and was the strongest mage ever. _How could he have just left Lucy without a second thought?!_ Gray fumed.

A bright light appeared next to where Gray sat cradling Lucy in his arms. He looked up to see Loke and Virgo peering down on him and their master.

"Hime is in critical conditions. The injuries she had sustained are life threatening." Virgo explained sadly.

"We need to get her to Wendy as soon as possible. We'll need both her and Porlyusica in order to save Lucy's life." Loke said solemnly.

"We'll take Hime back to the guild and meet the rest of you there." Virgo said bending down to take Lucy into her arms.

"Wait! Please take me with you as well!" Gray pleaded to the two spirits. The Zodiacs shared a look then nodded their heads. Virgo disappeared only to reappear with a pair of clothes for Gray so he could safely pass through the Spirit World. As Gray quickly put on the clothes he looked to Erza and saw her nod. She understood that he would go with Lucy while she would finish the job. Gray took Lucy into his arms and held her bridal style, careful not to jostle her too much. As he felt his body form into light he only had one thought in mind.

_Please let Lucy be alright._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading The Choices We Make! I didn't think that so many people would read it so soon after I posted the new chapter. Not even an hour after it was posted I was getting notifications that a lot of people have already followed and favorite this story! Thanks to those who have reviewed saying that it was a good first chapter. This is for you guys! So here is an update and hopefully the next will come soon! I'll try to update as frequently as I can but school my get in the way seeing as I graduate this year from high school! Woo senior! Oh just to tell you guys Ghoul Spirit was a real dark guild but was originally taken out by Laxus and the Raijinshuu. I had Team Natsu do it instead so that it would fit the story. Don't forget to leave a review with any comments or ideas, it would mean a lot to me too! Anyway sorry for the rant but here is chapter 2 of The Choices We Make! Enjoy! **

Chapter 2:

~Laxus' POV~

Laxus sat at a table with the Raijinshuu, listening to his sound pod. He stared at the guild doors hoping that the next time it opened that it would be Blondie smiling away at the world. He didn't know why he was so anxious for her to return. No. That was a lie. He knew exactly why he was so anxious. He knew that he cared for the blonde. The Light of Fairy Tail. At first he felt bad for not helping the girl out during the whole Phantom Lord incident as well as during the Fantasia incident, but those were during his days where he only cared about being strong and nothing else.

During the time of his exile he knew that he had to rethink the way he saw Fairy Tail. Sure individually not all of the members were strong, but together and with the strength of their nakama they were invincible. He knew that know. That's why during the Grand Magic Games he fought so hard against his father's guild, Raven Tail. He fought to avenge his nakama, for Wendy, Carla, Gray, and for Lucy. Fairy Tail was his family, and Laxus knew that he had to protect his family. However, when he avenged Lucy, to him it wasn't just because she was his nakama, but there was a feeling in his gut telling him that she was different. She was special. When Lucy was tortured by Minerva during the Naval Battle he felt like there was a stone in his stomach, he had clenched both his fists and teeth, lightning crackling around his body in anger. He wanted to rush out onto the field himself to save her, and when he saw her fall, he wanted to be the one that rushed out to get her not Gray and Natsu.

Laxus was shaken from his thoughts when he saw the guild doors slam open and Gray came running in, holding a bloody Lucy in his arms. Laxus stood and ripped his sound pods off his ears to hear what Gray had to say.

"Where is Wendy?! It's an emergency! Lucy is in danger!" Gray exclaimed frantically.

"I'm right here, Gray-san! Quick take Lucy up to the infirmary. I'll treat her there!" Wendy replied running up to the ice mage.

"Jet run and get Porlyusica. NOW!" shouted Makarov from the second floor.

"R-Right!" Jet zoomed out of the guild, running as fast as he could to get the human hating healer.

Laxus rushed up to the second floor behind Gray and followed him into the infirmary where he saw Gray place Lucy onto one of the beds. Wendy quickly made her way over and immediately began to treat the celestial mage. From what Laxus could see she was in terrible condition. She had burns all over her body and was bleeding profusely from her midsection.

"Out of the way foolish humans! Give me space!" Laxus turned to see Porlyusica pushing her way through the crowd and a panting Jet on the floor. Porlyusica made her way to Lucy's bed and began to help the young healer save Lucy.

"Gray, what happened on your job?" Makarov said, breaking the tense air.

"We were up against the dark guild, Ghoul Spirit. We had taken down most of the lackey's when we made our way to the master of the guild as well as their three elite fighters. Erza went up against the master while Lisanna and I each took on one of the elites. Natsu and Lucy took on the remaining one together. At least that's what I thought. When I had finished my fight I saw Lucy fighting all alone and then was taken down. I rushed over to help her and when I reached her I looked around for Natsu only to see him with Lisanna, laughing and boasting about how awesome he was for defeating the bad guys. I don't think he even noticed that Lucy was hurt so badly. Loke and Virgo showed up and took us to the guild while Erza stayed behind to finish the job." Gray explained. "I didn't get to her on time. If only I had finished my fight quicker, I could have saved her!"

Gray clenched his fist and punched the wall in frustration. "I couldn't protect her!"

The guild watched as they saw Gray break down. Juvia had put her arms around him and for once was not squealing about her "Gray-sama" or how Lucy was her "love rival". Laxus could see that Levy and Mira were huddled together crying for their friend while the rest of the guild either looked sad or pissed off that someone would do this to their nakama. The guild doors slammed open once again to reveal the flame headed idiot laughing and smiling with Lisanna. Erza immediately made her way to the infirmary knowing that Lucy was there.

"OI! Mira where are you?! I'm hungry!" Natsu roared when he reached the bar.

A tick appeared in Laxus' forehead as he made his way down the stairs and over to the fire dragon slayer. He clenched his fist and hit the boy, sending him flying into a wall across the guild.

"Natsu!" Lisanna exclaimed. She ran over to Natsu to see if he was alright.

As Natsu got up he shook the rubble out of his hair and looked towards the second generation dragon slayer. "What the hell Laxus?! What was that for?! We don't attack nakama!" he shouted.

"Do you even know what you've done?!" Laxus shouted.

"Huh?"

"Because of the choices you made Lucy is in the infirmary with life threatening injuries! You left her all alone to fend for herself when she barely had the strength to stand up! Did you even notice that she and Gray were gone?! Because you Lucy might not even make it through the night!" Laxus yelled. Natsu continued to look confused.

"What are you talking about? Lucy and Gray just snuck off together after the job. I saw Gray help her finish that guy off. I thought she could handle it by herself, but I guess I was wrong." He said scratching the back of his neck.

"NATSU! IN MY OFFICE NOW!" Makarov shouted from the second floor. Natsu made his way up to Gramps and into his office. Laxus could hear his grandfather shouting at the idiot mage and telling him exactly what happened. He made his way back to the infirmary to see that Porlyusica and Wendy had healed the worse and Lucy's wounds, but she still hadn't woken up.

"How is she?" Laxus asked.

"Stable. For now at least." Porlyusica answered.

"However, I think Lucy-san suffered something traumatic during the fight and won't wake up for a while. She hasn't even moved once since we started healing her, much less made a sound." Wendy said worriedly.

Laxus patted the young dragon slayer on the head giving her the comfort she needed. Wendy sniffed and looked up at him when he spoke. "Don't worry. She'll wake up. She's strong and will pull through it."

"You really think so?" Wendy sniffed again.

"You bet. Now let's get you some food and let Blondie get some rest. You used a lot of magic healing her." Laxus said acting like a big brother. The little girl nodded and Laxus picked the girl up in his arms and proceeded to make his way down to the bar.

"Laxus-san?" Wendy exclaimed with a slight blush when Laxus picked her up.

"You're already wobbling on your feet. Don't worry about it." He explained. Wendy tightened her grip on the older man and held on as he carried her to a table. Mira had already gone back to working behind the bar and when she saw Laxus carrying Wendy she quietly brought out a plate of food for the exhausted healer. "Thanks Mira."

The barmaid gave a sad smile and nodded in reply. As Wendy ate her food silently, Laxus took a look around the guild. He saw Gray with his head in his hands with Juvia still comforting him. Levy sat next to Gajeel, crying into his shoulder. He knew that she was worried about her best friend. Cana hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since Lucy was brought in and was staring at her cards that were arranged on the table in front of her.

It was a gloomy day indeed for the guild Fairy Tail.

~Time Skip: two weeks after the incident~

Laxus sat in the infirmary watching over Lucy. It had already been two weeks since Gray came running through the guild with her in his arms. Since then she hasn't moved in inch. It was the middle of the night and he was the only one left in the guild. He had stayed behind to finish some paperwork for Gramps when he had a feeling telling him to check on Lucy. Laxus looked at the blonde girl lying on the bed in front of her. All of her wounds had healed and color was beginning to return to the girl's face as well.

"You need to wake up soon Blondie." Laxus whispered. "The guild hasn't been the same without you. Everyone had been so depressed and quiet since you were brought in by Gray. I don't think people would even recognize us as Fairy Tail right now. They all miss you. I miss you. Lucy."

Laxus turned to head back to his office and finish his paperwork when he heard a groan come from behind him. He quickly turned around to see Lucy wiggle in her bed. He saw her open hey eyes revealing a pair of beautiful chocolate brown eyes.

"Blondie, looks like you're awake. Took you long enough." He said trying to sound gruff.

"Laxus…? What happened? Where am I…?" Lucy asked wearily. She tried to sit up only to wince and plop back down onto the bed.

"Don't get up. Your wounds have healed, but it'll be pretty sore for a while. To answer you questions: yes it's me, you got heavily injured on your last job, and you're in the infirmary. You've been out for the past two weeks." He answered.

"Two weeks?! What about my rent?" she asked.

Laxus chuckled. "OF course you're worried about your rent. Don't worry, Gray paid off your landlady for the month. Said it was the least he could do."

"Least he could do…?" Lucy wondered.

"He blames himself for you getting hurt. Said he couldn't protect you." Laxus explained. "He said that if only he finished his fight quicker, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. He's also pissed that Natsu just abandoned you in the middle of battle."

"Um, Laxus?" Lucy asked timidly.

"Yeah, Blondie?"

"Tell me….who's Natsu…?"

**A/N: sorry to leave you guys on a cliffhanger! I wasn't really expecting to update so soon, but like I said before thanks to those who have reviewed, followed, and favorite this story. It makes me happy every time I get a notification about this! Please leave some reviews and hopefully I'll update soon! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow! This story hasn't even been up for 24 hours and it already had a bunch of favorites and followers! You guys are awesome so I have decided to do another update today! Did you guys love Big Brother Laxus? I know I did. I always see Wendy as the little sister of all the dragon slayers and the boys acting as big brothers for her. Also sorry about how Laxus has been kinda OOC. Shout out to all who reviewed especially westerngoddess who made me laugh at her comment! Enjoy the update and don't forget to review! **

Chapter 3:

~Laxus' POV~

"Tell me…who's Natsu…?" Lucy asked timidly. Laxus looked over to her with a look of pure shock on his face.

"You mean you don't remember who Natsu is?!" Laxus exclaimed.

"No?"

"Tell me Blondie. Do you remember what happened during your mission? How you got hurt?" Laxus asked.

"Uh, I remember fighting this man with scars all over his face and body. I was completely out of magic so I couldn't summon any of my spirits or use my whip. I know that I fought him alone and that I was losing, badly. Right before I blacked out I saw Gray defeat the man and run towards me." Lucy told. "That's about it."

"So you don't remember Natsu being with you at all?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I don't even know who this Natsu person you keep mentioning is." She replied.

"This isn't good." Laxus murmured. _The flame idiot isn't going to be happy about this. _Laxus thought to himself.

"Laxus?" Lucy asked.

"Sorry, I'm just going to call Gramps and tell him you're awake. I'll also call Wendy so she can do a check-up on you." He told the blonde. "Do you need anything for when I come back?"

"Oh, um, water? If that's alright…" She replied.

"Sure thing, Blondie."

"Oh and Laxus?" Lucy called.

"Yeah?"

"You're blonde too, and that nickname isn't very creative." Lucy smiled. Laxus just chuckled in response as he walked out of the infirmary. He made his way down to the dark guild hall and to the bar we he grabbed a glass of water for the blonde celestial mage. On his way back up he stopped in his office to call Gramps using the communications lacrima on his desk.

"Laxus? What's the problem?" the master asked sleepily. "Is there something wrong with Lucy?"

"Nah Gramps calm down. She's awake now. Just thought I should call to let you know. Did you want me to call Wendy and have her check up on Blondie?" Laxus asked his grandfather.

"Maybe we should wait till the morning and let Wendy sleep. Carla wouldn't want her being woken up for no reason." Replied Makarov.

"Oi Gramps, I think I should let you know that there is something…wrong with Blondie."

"What?"

"She doesn't remember anything about Natsu. When I brought him up earlier she looked completely confused and even said she was fighting that scarred dude alone the entire time until Gray came to help her." Laxus explained.

"I see. Well then, I guess we should call up Wendy then as a precaution. There's a chance that the feeling of being abandoned by Natsu was traumatic to Lucy causing her to subconsciously wipe him completely from her memories." Makarov predicted. "For now stay with her and keep an eye on her. I'll call Wendy and we'll be over there as soon as possible."

"Alright." Laxus made his way back to the infirmary where Lucy waited.

~Wendy's POV~

The young dragon slayer was awoken in the middle of the night when the master had called her through the communications lacrima he had given her when she first joined the guild. He insisted she take in case of emergencies with the guild or when she was out on the mission. The master had told her that if he knew she had the lacrima it would ease his old heart. When she answered the lacrima, master had told her that Lucy-san had finally awakened and that he would like for Wendy to examine her. Carla had asked if it could wait till the morning, but that's when the master told them what he was told by Laxus-san. Lucy had lost all memories about Natsu and couldn't recall who the fire dragon slayer was.

Wendy quickly got dressed and rushed out of Fairy Hills and towards the guild. Her long blue hair flowed wildly in the wind as she ran as fast as she could to Fairy Tail. When she reached the guild she pushed open the doors and ran straight up to the infirmary where the master, Laxus-san, and Lucy-san waited.

"Sorry I took awhile." Wendy said panting. She bowed to the master and made her way over to the guild's celestial mage. "Lucy-san, how are you feeling? Does anything still hurt?"

"Oh hi Wendy! I'm sorry that we woke you up in the middle of the night." Lucy apologized. "I feel fine! A little sore, but nothing time won't heal."

"Now Lucy," began the master. "Do you really not remember who Natsu Dragneel is?"

"Like I told Laxus earlier, I honestly don't know who that is. I've never seen much less heard of anyone named Natsu Dragneel." She replied.

"Lucy do you remember how you got to Fairy Tail? About who brought you to the guild?" the master asked.

"Yeah! It was a year after I ran away from home. I was at Hargeon looking at a copy of Sorcerer's Weekly that was featuring Mira. Then some guy claiming to be the famous Salamander of Fairy Tail was running around town inviting girls to a party on his ship. He used a type of ring magic to charm all the girls around him including me. That's when Happy came crashing through breaking the charm on me. I went to the party on the ship and discovered that the Salamander was a fake and was a guy named Bora. When Bora through my keys off the ship I dove into the water to get them. Happy helped me find my keys and I proceeded to call Aquarius who swept the ship back to shore along with getting me got up in it. Her attack had destroyed the docks. After that I took out Bora and his goons and when the army showed up Happy dragged me here to Fairy Tail." Lucy said recalling that strange day. She was glad though. Even after all the crazy and hectic events at Hargeon that one blue cat was able to lead her to the guild of her dreams.

"I see." Makarov replied. "It seems to me that Lucy has unconsciously wiped Natsu from all her memories. She remembers everything except for him."

"What should we do, Gramps?" Laxus asked.

"For now we'll let Lucy get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll inform the rest of the guild and see how they take it. But we should tell everyone before Natsu comes in. he was suspended from any big jobs so he's only been taking smalls ones with Happy and Lisanna. He's due to return around noon." Makarov stated.

"Alright, Gramps." Laxus replied. "Come on Wendy, I'll walk you home."

The lightning mage walked out the guild with Wendy following him slowly. He turned to see her yawn and rub at her eyes tiredly. Laxus chuckled and once again lifted the young dragon slayer into his arms. He saw the girl smile and wrap her arms around his neck so that she wouldn't fall.

"Laxus-san you're like a big brother." She yawned.

"You call treat me like a brother you know. All of us dragon slayers already see you as our little sister. Gajeel and I have always been looking after you from a distance and only getting involved when it was necessary. Natsu, even as idiotic as he is, sees you as his little sister." Laxus replied.

"Okay, Laxus-oniisan." Wendy smiled once again before falling asleep on the older dragon slayer's shoulder.

**A/N: Hey guys! I know this chapter is a little shorter than the previous chapters but I wanted to save Lucy's encounter with the rest of the guild until the next chapter. I love the interaction between Laxus and Wendy and how Wendy is always being looked after. Not trying to say she's weak because she's not I just like her in the little sister that the big brothers need to protect role. Oh and has anyone read the new chapter that came out today?! Not what I was expecting! Anyway thanks for reading I should update again tomorrow since I have no school (T HANK YOU SNOW DAYS!) so look out for that and please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey so here is the next chapter for The Choices We Make. I'm trying to update while I can because once my snow days are over I'll have to focus more on school and making sure I pass my classes so I can graduate. Anyway thanks to all those who have reviewed and to the ones who have recently favorite and followed this story. It gives me the confidence to keep writing and letting me know that my writing doesn't totally suck. Enjoy chapter 4! And please leave a review!**

Chapter 4:

~Lucy's POV~

It was the next morning and Lucy and sat in the infirmary with the Master and Laxus. Both wizards had a worried look on their faces only confusing the blonde more. _What was wrong with her that made them have those expressions? Who was this Natsu person that they kept bringing up? _Lucy wondered.

"Are you ready Lucy?" Makarov asked.

"Yes, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm supposed to be ready for." She replied. Makarov nodded to Laxus who proceeded to help the celestial mage out of the bed. He let Lucy lean on him and use him as a crutch as they walked out of the infirmary together and to the balcony of the second floor.

"Listen up you brats!" Makarov shouted from on top of the railing. "Our precious Lucy has finally woken up last night!" The guild cheered as they saw Lucy come up to the railing with Laxus at her side. "However, there was a lasting effect from the injuries she had sustained. Lucy suffers from a type of amnesia so I expect all of you to all help Lucy out."

_Amnesia? How could I have amnesia? I remember every bit of my life perfectly._ Lucy thought. _Could it have something to do with the one they call Natsu?_

Laxus helped Lucy down the stairs and seated her in her usual seat at the bar where Mirajane had already prepared a strawberry milkshake for her. The blonde smiled at the silver-haired takeover mage in thanks and began to sip her drink. Lucy felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Gray, the one she saw as an older brother as well as the one who had saved her life.

"Gray!" Lucy exclaimed. She flung her arms around the ice-make wizard's neck and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much for saving me! I don't know where I'd be now if it weren't for you!"

Gray hesitantly placed his arms around her waist and returned the hug. He buried his face in her golden hair and tightened his hold on her. "I'm sorry Lucy. If I had gotten to you quicker you wouldn't have been in such a terrible condition!"

"What are you talking about Gray? I was the foolish one. I thought that I could take on the scarred guy by myself. I wanted to show that I wasn't the weak link in our team. You and Erza are both so strong that I felt I had to prove that I was too. And then when Lisanna joined our team for the mission I saw how strong she was. I should've put my pride aside and asked for help." Lucy said, trying to comfort the wizard in her arms.

"No, if anything it's that flame headed idiot who should be blamed. Natsu shouldn't have left you! I get that Lisanna needed help, but that doesn't give him the excuse of abandoning you when you needed help too!" Gray exclaimed.

"Huh? What are you talking about Gray?" Lucy asked pulling away from the raven-haired boy she held. "I wasn't abandoned. I was fighting alone the whole time, since we barged into Ghoul Spirit it was just me, you, Lisanna, and Erza. There was no one there by the name of Natsu. I don't even know who this Natsu person is that everyone seems to keep bringing up." Lucy had furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What…?" Gray said looking just as confused as the blonde. "What are you talking about? Natsu was there with us. He was the one who chose the job! Don't tell me you forgot about him?!"

"Gray." Makarov said calling the ice wizard's attention. "This is what I meant when I said she had amnesia. It seems that she has completely wiped Natsu from all of her memories. She remembers everything except for Natsu." Master explained.

"Will everyone stop acting like I'm not here?!" Lucy shouted. "You guys keep talking as if I'm not in the room! And will someone please tell me who this Natsu person is?!"

"We're sorry Lucy. It's just a shock for us that you don't remember who Natsu is. He was the one who brought you to Fairy Tail. He was your partner and best friend. He always got on your nerves and would break into your home and sleep in your bed and even after you Lucy kicked him you'd still treat his wounds and make him breakfast. You guys have been inseparable since the day he brought you to the guild." Gray explained.

"No, that can't be right. It was Happy who brought me to the guild and it's always been you who has been breaking into my home, well you and Erza. It's always been me, you, Happy, and Erza as a team. Together we were Team Gray, the guild's strongest team." Lucy said shaking her head.

"So you have completely forgotten about Natsu, huh?" Laxus said from beside the blonde. The guild had grown quiet while they were listening to Lucy explain what she remembered.

"What are we going to do when Natsu comes back from his mission…?" someone in the guild had asked. Just as the question was asked, the guild doors slammed open revealing Lisanna and Happy with a man with pink hair standing beside them.

~Natsu's POV~

The fire dragon slayer was excited to get back to the guild. He was hoping that his best friend and partner would be awake already. Lately he had been going on small jobs with Lisanna and was collecting money to pay off her rent. She was always complaining on how she had to pay so Natsu thought that he would get the money for her to make up for going to Lisanna when she needed him. He saw the guild up ahead and ran ahead, kicking the guild doors open with a hug smile on his face.

"WE'RE BACK!" he shouted to the guild. As Lisanna and Happy caught up to him, he saw how everyone was centered around the bar with varying expressions of either sadness, worry, or shock when they saw the dragon slayer. "What's everyone doing at the bar? IS IT A SURPRISE FOR ME?!"

Natsu ran towards the bar, pushing people out of the way to see what they were hiding. What he saw made a huge grin break out on his face.

"Luce! You're awake!" he exclaimed grabbing onto the girl and pulling her into a tight hug. He heard the girl gasp and struggle in his arms.

"Get off me!" she said continuing to try and escape his embrace. Natsu then felt two pairs of hands separate him from Lucy and pull him away from her.

"Laxus, Gray, what are you doing? I'm trying to give Luce my welcome back hug!" he said protesting the two wizards.

"Natsu you need to calm down and let us explain what's going on." Gray said gripping his shoulder even tighter.

"Explain what?!"

"Laxus…who is that?" Natsu heard Lucy ask. Time seemed to stop for Natsu when he heard that one sentence.

"Luce…? " He asked eyes wide as he looked at the confused and slightly shaken blonde in front of him.

"Uh, yes?" she responded warily.

"You…were joking right? When you…asked who I was?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are. This is the first time we met." She replied. "My name is Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia. You're the one they've been telling me about right? Natsu Dragneel?"

"Uh, yeah." He said hesitantly. "We've met before. We met when I was in Hargeon looking for Igneel. After we defeated that fake Salamander I dragged you here to the guild. Then after you joined we went to Mt. Hakobe to rescue Macao because he got his stupid ass taken over by a Vulcan."

Lucy looked puzzled, as if she was trying to remember what he was saying. He brow furrowed and then she hunched over and gripped her head.

"AHH!"

"Lucy!"

"Blondie!"

Gray and Laxus immediately let go of Natsu, causing him to fall on his butt, as they rushed to Lucy's side. Natsu looked up from his spot on the ground to see that both Laxus and Gray were trying to comfort and soothe the celestial mage. It was normal to see Gray being close with Lucy, but what confused Natsu the most was how gentle Laxus was being toward Lucy. However, Natsu couldn't comment on it seeing as he was still shocked the Lucy couldn't remember him at all.

_What happened Luce? Why don't you remember me? I thought we were partners…._

~Gray's POV~

He let go of Natsu and rushed straight to Lucy. She was hunched over and gripping her head in pain. He saw Laxus let go of Natsu and head for Lucy as well. Both wizards tried to sooth and calm the girl down as she groaned in pain. Whatever was happening to her was causing her severe pain.

"Wendy!" Laxus called out. Gray looked towards the lightning dragon to see him looking for the young healer. He saw the blue head of hair heading for their position as she made her way through the crowd.

"I'm here, Laxus-oniisan!" Wendy replied. She immediately reached out for Lucy and tried to heal what was wrong with her head. Her brow furrowed as she continued to use her healing magic on the blonde.

"Anything, Wendy?" Gray asked the little girl.

She shook her head. "There are no injuries for me to heal. I think it's just her memories trying to resurface, but she's still subconsciously trying to repress all memories pertaining to Natsu-san."

"Pertaining to…me?" Natsu whispered.

"We think it's because Blondie was traumatized when you left her and she almost died. It's her way of trying to cope with the incident." Laxus explained. He reached down and cradled the girl, holding her bridal style as he made his way back up to the infirmary. Gray followed after Laxus leaving the fire dragon slayer on the ground behind him. When Gray reach infirmary he saw Laxus tuck Lucy, who was unconscious, back into the bed she had been occupying.

"You care for her…don't you?" Gray asked, leaning against the doorframe. He saw Laxus turn to look at him, with his eyes lingering on the sleeping girl.

"…I do. For a while now actually. After my exile I rethought what it meant to be in a guild. I thought about what it meant to protect my nakama. After the Tenrou incident and I was let back in the guild I saw how happy she was and how where ever she went she was always able to spread smiles around. She's smart, caring, funny, responsible, and not to mention has an awesome body." Laxus smirked. "Now I feel like I must protect her. When I see her smile I get this, sort of warm feeling in me."

Gray smiled at Laxus' confession.

"But don't you dare to tell anyone I said something so mushy!" Laxus said gruffly to Gray. He raised his hands, palms out to show that he wasn't planning on telling anyone.

"I understand why you want to protect her. She's worth protecting. I'd do anything to keep her safe, not in a romantic way, but more in a protective older brother kind of way. Just like you and Wendy." He said looking at the dragon slayer. Laxus raised an eyebrow when Gray had brought up Wendy.

"Don't give me that look. I heard what Wendy called you, 'Laxus-oniisan'." Gray said smirking at the man.

Laxus narrowed his eyes at the ice make mage.

"Sorry, sorry. Just trying to prove a point here." Gray said apologizing, before the slayer could zap him with lightning. "I'm trying to say that I see Lucy as my little sister just like how you see Wendy as yours. And we both know that it's the big brother's responsibility to protect their little sisters, right?"

"Yeah, I see what you're saying." Laxus replied. Just as Laxus was about to say something else, the master walked in to check on Lucy.

"How is she doing?" he asked.

"She fell asleep after the pain subsided. But Gramps, what are we going to do about Natsu?" Gray asked.

"It seems like whenever something triggers a memory with Natsu that she doesn't remember she will get these 'attacks'. Like Wendy had said earlier it's her memories trying to resurface, but she's suppressing it. For now we'll keep her and Natsu separated in order to prevent anymore mishaps and allow Lucy to regain her memories on her own terms. Until then I'd like one of you to be with Lucy at all times to keep an eye on her. Her attacks could become more frequent and increase in severity at any time and it'd be best if you helped her like you did today." Master explained.

"How does Natsu feel about being told to stay away?"

"He doesn't agree. I suspect that he'll keep trying to force Lucy to remember him so that is also another reason why I want the two of you to look after her. She needs to recover those memories on her own. I can't guarantee that she will though, It's her decision whether she wants to or not." He explained.

The two mages looked at each other and nodded. They decided to let Lucy sleep for the rest of the day and when she woke up they'd escort her back to her apartment. Gray already had a current job he was supposed to be going on so it was decided that Laxus would escort her home and take first watch. As Gray left the guild and headed to the train station he wished the slayer luck in pursuing Lucy.

_I just hope Lucy makes the right choice in whether to remember Natsu or not…_


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! I know that I have been MIA for the past couple of weeks and haven't updated in a while, but I've been too caught up in school. My teachers think that it's perfectly reasonable to have projects all due at the same time. So here is a new update in celebration of my revival, as well as snow days and procrastination! Hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review!**

Chapter 5:

~Laxus' POV~

They stood outside Lucy's apartment, she was nervously searching for her house key as Laxus waited behind her with his arms crossed over his chest. He could smell how nervous she was to have him stay with her. It had taken Blondie a while to wake up after her run in with Natsu and Gramps wanted to keep her at the guild for a little longer to see how she felt. When Gramps had given the okay, it was already dark out.

"Oi, Blondie. Hurry it up, will ya?" he said gruffly. _Crap. I didn't mean it to come out like that. _He thought, mentally wincing.

"S-Sorry." Lucy mumbled. Finally, Lucy found her key and hurriedly unlocked the door to her apartment. She led him into the house and made her way towards the kitchen. Laxus took a look around the apartment and one thought immediately came to his mind. _It's so….pink._

"Have a seat at the table and I'll make us some tea. Would you like anything to eat while I'm at it?" she asked.

"Sure. Thanks." Laxus sat down and watched as she started to boil some water and then proceed to the refrigerator to pull out ingredients for sandwiches. As she worked Laxus wondered if her amnesia would be permanent. _She hasn't really changed much since the accident. She's still the same cheerful blonde as before. Maybe she might be better off not remembering Salamander…._

"Uh… so, what has the Raijinshuu been up to lately?" Lucy asked as she set down a tray that carried the tea and sandwiches. He could tell that she was still nervous and wanted to break the awkward silence.

"The usual, I guess. They've been taking down some dark guilds while Gramps keeps me busy with paperwork to prepare me for when I become guild master." He replied taking a bite out of the sandwich.

"I see. I think that's nice that Master is preparing you now. You've come a long way since Fantasia and I feel that you've changed from how you were then. Ever since you came back to the guild you've helped us out a whole bunch. Back on Tenroujima you helped to defeat Master Hades. Not to mention during the GMG when you fought Raven Tail. I never really thanked you for that huh?" she rambled.

"Thanked me…?" Laxus wondered.

"For defeating Flare, I mean. Thank you. I felt so frustrated when I lost to her, I felt so weak. But I also felt that you avenged me when you fought Raven Tail all on your own. I know that that was how Gray felt." She explained.

"Oh that. Well, you would have beaten her if it weren't for that bastard Obra. Somehow he stole the magic from that spell you were casting. Otherwise you would have knocked that Flare girl out, no problem." Laxus said. "But what was that spell anyway? I've never seen something like that before. Maybe with Mystogan, but yours looked different from his Heavenly Body spell."

"Urano Metria. It's a spell that lets me use the power of all 88 constellations. Hibiki taught it to me when we first fought against Oracion Seis and I was fighting Angel. But after I used it I forgot about it. But then I had one of my spirits, Crux, search for it. He was able to find the spell along with a couple of others. Apparently they're ancient spells passed down through Celestial Spirit mages, but was soon forgotten becoming Lost Magic."

Laxus was amazed. He knew she was strong, after all she did beat Bixlow, but he didn't know that she was this strong. She could probably make S-class. He saw her yawn and hid a smile.

"Get some rest Blondie, I'll clean up in here." Laxus said as he gathered the dishes and made his way to the kitchen.

"Okay. I'll just take a shower then head to bed. You're free to sleep on the couch if you want. I'm sorry that I don't have better accommodations for you." she said sheepishly.

"It's fine. I'm okay with the couch." He replied. She nodded then made her way into her bedroom then to the bathroom. As Laxus did the dishes he heard the water turn on and sighed.

This was going to be a long night.

~Lucy's POV~

Lucy came out of the bathroom with a towel on her head to dry her hair. The lights were off in the living room and she saw a Laxus shaped lump stretched across her couch. She assumed that he was sleeping and tiptoed to her desk to write a letter to her mother.

_Dear Mama,_

_I've just recently gotten home. For the past two weeks I've had to stay in the guild's infirmary. Apparently I had gotten hurt on my last mission. But don't worry, Mama! I'm alright. Wendy healed me as soon as Gray brought me back to the guild. By the time I had woken up my wounds had already healed. _

_But the strange thing is, when I woke up I thought I would see Gray sitting next to my bed. But surprisingly it was Laxus! Can you believe it? THE Laxus was sitting beside my bed waiting for me to wake up. And get this Mama, apparently the Master wants him to stay with me for awhile! _

_However, ever since I woke up a couple of days ago, I've been so confused. Everyone has kept mentioning this boy named Natsu. They keep acting as if I know him, but I know that I don't. When the guild heard that I didn't know who he was they got all silent and began tiptoeing around the subject. Then this boy with pink hair rushed up to me. He started calling me "Luce" and acting as if we were close. I found out that this was the boy people kept mentioning. He was Natsu Dragneel._

_But he said the strangest things. He said that he brought me to Fairy Tail and that our first "mission" together was when we went to rescue Macao at Mt. Hakobe. But that can't be right. I remember that it was solely Happy who brought me to the guild and that I went on the rescue mission with Gray. I don't remember anything after that though. Master told me that I had fainted in the middle of the guild hall. That's when he assigned Laxus and Gray to look after me. He said that he didn't want that Natsu person to be near me for now. Is he dangerous? Should I be wary of him, Mama? _

_Well, anyway, that's why Laxus is with me now. Gray would have been, but he said that he had promised to go on a mission with Juvia. I knew he would give into her eventually. But Mama, what should I do? I feel so nervous with Laxus around and it's only the first day! Whenever I'm around him my heart starts beating quickly and I feel my face heat up and I just can't think straight. I'm scared that he'll find out how I feel. What if he finds out and is disgusted? I don't think I could take it if he didn't feel the same way. Besides why would he go for me? I'm too weak for him and there are prettier girls at the guild like Mira and Cana. Mama, what do you think I should do? Do you think that it will forever be unrequited? _

_I wish you were here to help me. How are you and Papa doing? Are you happy that you're together again? I miss you both so much. I wish that I could have fixed things with Papa before I went missing. I know that those seven years must have been hard on him. I should go to bed now shouldn't I? I need to wake up early tomorrow anyway. I want to go back and visit the mansion. Did I tell you that I managed to buy it back? I also turned it into an Academy for people who want to learn magic. I think it has some real promise! I hope you and Papa are doing well. _

_Love, _

_Lucy. _

Lucy sealed the letter and put them into the box with all her other letters. As she got into bed she sighed and tried to get some sleep.

~Natsu's POV~

_Amnesia. Gramps said she has amnesia. Amnesia where the only thing she couldn't remember was me. She doesn't know who I am. She's forgotten everything about me. _Natsu could feel a pain in his heart. Wendy and Gramps said that she was suppressing all her memories of him because of what happened during their last mission. It was his fault that Lucy was like this.

_I have to go and fix this._ Natsu thought. He sprinted out of the guild where he had been moping and headed to Lucy's apartment. As Natsu turned onto Strawberry Street he could see her building and sprinted to the door. As usual he climbed up the side of her building and looked into her window. He saw her sleeping with her golden hair fanned out around her head, the moonlight making it look like an angel's halo. In his haste to talk to Lucy, Natsu hadn't noticed the lightning dragon slayer on the couch when he climbed through the window.

"Luce!" Natsu exclaimed, shaking the girl to wake her up.

"Huh?" the girl opened her eyes and saw Natsu next to her on her bed. She blinked her eyes a couple of times then screamed as she jumped out of bed. The lights turned on and Natsu turned to see Lucy hiding behind Laxus who growled at him.

"What is he doing in my house?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Luce, please. Can we talk?" Natsu asked taking a step closer to the blonde.

"No! I don't want to talk to some creep who sneaks into my house through a window in the middle of the night!" she shouted.

"I think it's time you left Natsu." Laxus growled.

"Not until I talk to Lucy!" Natsu growled back. Natsu tried to take another step closer, but Laxus stepped in front of him, blocking him from Lucy. As they squared off, both of them failed to notice that Lucy had crouched down on the floor, grasping her head until they heard a small whimper. Laxus had rushed to her quickly and picked her up.

"Oi! Where do you think you're taking her?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Away from you!" Laxus exclaimed. "It's because of you that she's like this!"

Natsu was dumfounded. Laxus was right it was because of him. He watched as Laxus turned into lightning and flew out the window with Lucy. He fell back onto Lucy's bed, still in shock from what Laxus had said. How could he have forgotten? After Master told him about Lucy's amnesia he said that when she's forced to remember she would get those horrible headaches. Natsu felt so stupid for forgetting.

_I'm so sorry Luce. Please forgive me. _

**A/N: Well there is the next chapter so sorry that it's short! I'll try to update again sometime during the week and try to make that one longer to make it up to you guys! I'll be including some LaLu fluff as well. Oh and would anyone be interested in drawing the cover art for the story? Let me know! Don't forget to review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys! Here is the next chapter of The Choices We Make! Thanks so much for all the support so far. To answer the user XinderXD's question: Yes I think that it would completely be logical for Lucy to go back and read the letters that she's written to her mother and that she has written about Natsu plenty of times including the time when he brought her to the guild. However, it does show Lucy sealing off her letters with wax after she finishes them as seen in the episode titled "Lucy's Resolve". So for me it makes me think that she wouldn't reread the letters after writing them, maybe acting as if she actually is sending them to her mother. Hope that answers your question and nope it's not just you! **

**Enjoy the new chapter and don't forget to leave a review! Oh and one more thing: I will be switching from writing in third person to first so that the characters' POVs can be a little easier to write as well as understand.**

**Sorry for the rant!**

Chapter 6:

~Lucy's POV~

I woke up feeling groggy. There was a huge pounding in my head and I had no idea where it had come from. As I opened my eyes I saw unfamiliar surroundings. _Where am i…?_

I sat up in the bed and took in my surroundings. I was sitting on a large king sized bed covered in blank sheets and black pillow cases. The room I was in was plain and simple, with dark gray walls and burgundy furniture. The room was overall kept clean, with only a pile of folders and papers scattered across the desk in the room. I saw a door on the right of the bed that lead to what I assumed was the bathroom while the door in front of the bed was opened, showing a closet filled with men's clothing. Across the room was another door that I figured led to the rest of the house.

The door knob began to turn and revealed Laxus, who was wearing a pair of maroon pants and a tight fitted, sleeveless black shirt that clearly showed off all of his rippling muscles. As our eyes met I could feel my face flush and heat rush up towards my cheeks.

"Looks like you're finally awake, Blondie." Laxus said leaning against the doorframe.

"L-Laxus? W-Where am I?" I stuttered.

"My place." He replied. "Had an unwanted visitor last night so I brought you here. You'll be staying here until Freed returns from his mission with the Raijinshuu and I get him to put up runes around your apartment."

"Why does Freed need to put up runes?" I asked curiously.

"It's just safer that way. He'll make it so no one can enter without you're direct permission giving you privacy as well as keeping that idiot Natsu away from you." he explained.

"Oh."

We awkwardly stayed there not knowing what to say. As I fidgeted with my hands I saw Laxus sigh and I looked up to the dragon slayer. "What did you have planned for today? I'll be going with you until Gray gets back to switch off."

I had forgotten that Laxus and Gray would switch looking after me. I felt guilty for taking up so much of their time. I knew that Gray wanted to work on more missions in order to prepare for the next S-class exams and that Laxus was busy getting trained to be the next master.

"I-I'm sorry, Laxus. I seem to be causing you and Gray a lot of trouble." I muttered, knowing that he could hear me clearly with his dragon hearing.

"It's fine Blondie. But you never answered my question."

"Oh, um, I uh plan on going back to my home. I was able to buy it back, but since I live here in Magnolia I decided to make it into an academy for children aspiring to become mages. I wanted to give them a place where they could learn without distractions as well as in a place that has fresh air. Most of the children attending are orphans, but others were sent by their families." I told.

"Wow." Laxus replied. "How'd you manage to buy it back? It must have been expensive and I know that you're always struggling to pay your rent for your apartment."

"Well, I obviously couldn't do it alone. Gray helped me save up money, and when Master found out what I intended to do, he decided to pay for the rest. I felt guilty having Gray and Master spend all that money just to buy back my home, but Master said that it was for the future generation of mages. He helped me to create the school. Master is actually the chairman of the school while Gray and I are co-principals." I say.

"Gramps is right. You did an amazing thing for these kids." Laxus said.

"Thanks." I giggled.

"Go get ready. If you want to make it there then we better leave soon. Feel free to use the shower, towels are in the cabinet." Laxus pushed off the wall and walked out of the room, I guess to give me the privacy I needed to get ready.

I shrugged and climbed off the bed. I made my way over to where the bathroom was and shut the door behind me. As I turned the shower on to get the hot water running, I reached into the cabinet and pulled out, would you believe it, a fluffy black towel. I shook my head and giggled at Laxus' lack of color variety in his home. Well of what I have seen of it so far I mean. I stripped down and hopped into the shower. I sighed and closed my eyes as I felt the hot water cascading down my body. I opened my eyes and remembered that I didn't have any of my shower stuff with me. Turning, I spotted Laxus' bottle of shampoo and soap. I decided to use his since I had nothing else to use.

After my shower, I needed new clothes to change into so I decided to ask my spirit. Pulling her key from the key ring I called out, "Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" A light appeared and in a poof appeared the pink haired maid.

"Punishment time, Hime?" Virgo asked.

"No! I just need some clothes if you don't mind." I asked of the spirit. Virgo bowed and disappeared in puff of smoke. Within less than a minute Virgo returned carrying the dress I had worn on Tenrou Island. "Thank you, Virgo."

"Is there anything else you need, Hime?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

"No that's all. You can return home if you'd like." I replied. Virgo bowed again and disappeared in another puff of smoke. I put on the dress that Virgo brought me and made my way downstairs, searching for Laxus. I found him lounging on a recliner with his sound pods on his ears. When he saw me, he got up without saying a word and walked towards the door. I followed him out of the house and we made our way to the train station.

~Time Skip: Lucy's Mansion. Laxus' POV~

_Damn. __Blondie's got a nice place._ I thought, marveling at the large mansion. It had been around noon when we got off the train, my stomach still felt uneasy from the mode of transportation and I had been amazed when she told me that what I thought was a spacious town, was in fact her garden. But when I saw how huge her "house" was, well my mouth metaphorically hit the ground.

We walked into the mansion and were greeted by a maid.

"Ojou-sama! You've returned!" she exclaimed.

"I'm back, Spetto-san." Lucy smiled.

"Oh the children will be overjoyed when they see that you're here! They've missed you dearly, ojou-sama." The maid, Spetto, said. "Come, come! They're currently in the dining room on their lunch break!" Spetto hurriedly ushered us down a series of hallways and led us to a pair of mahogany doors. She opened the doors and called the room to attention.

"Minna-sama, Lucy-ojousama has returned!" the maid announced. All of the children, there was about twenty of them, turned to look at Lucy with giant smiles across their faces. One by one they each jumped out of their seats and ran towards Blondie.

"Lucy-oneesama!" they exclaimed. They crowded around her and began talking loudly and at the same time. I covered my ears to try and block out the shouting and Lucy giggled when she saw that.

"Ne, Onee-sama, who is this big man?" A boy with orange hair asked.

"Children, this is Laxus. He's the Master's grandson and is looking after me right now." Lucy answered.

"Is he a mage?" asked the orange haired boy.

"Yes he is, Finny. He's a Lightning Dragon Slayer." She smiled, looking at me.

"That's so cool!" Finny shouted. I grunted as a reply.

"Is he your boyfriend?" asked a girl with red colored hair. At that Lucy blushed and I turned away to hide the slight blush from my own cheeks.

"N-No Ichigo, he's not. But he is someone very important to me." Lucy stammered.

"Laxus-nii, will you show us your magic?" Finny asked excitedly, tugging on my pants.

I looked at his face, it was filled with anticipation and excitement. The other's kids' faces mirrored that of Finny's. I cracked a hint of a smile and ruffled the boy's hair. "Sure, why not kid."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys! I know that it's been a while since my last update but I had been so busy with school and exams that I just had no time to update. Even after graduation I was busy with settling things for college (whoo #ClassOf2019!) and Senior Week so I do apologize for the long wait. Sorry that this chapter is going to be short, but that's just until I get back into writing this! Please put up with my hectic life! Well enjoy the new chapter of The Choices We Make!**

Chapter 7:

~Lucy's POV~

I had left Laxus with the children, they had really taken a liking to him. I was surprised when I saw how well Laxus was with the kids. He was able to smile and goof off with them. Laxus would be a good father. I thought, smiling.

Coming back from my thoughts about Laxus, I turned to look at my parents' graves. As well as buying back the mansion, I moved my parents' graves from Acalypha back to the mansion as well.

"Mama, Papa, I'm home. I'm sorry that I haven't visited in a while. I brought someone with me here today that actually isn't Gray or Master Makarov. His name is Laxus Dreyar, he's the Master's grandson. Do you remember him, Mama? I've written to you about him before. I wish you were here to meet the children. They're adorable and promising young mages and they absolutely love Laxus. Whenever I see these kids, I always look forward to having children of my own someday. Ne, do you think I'd make a good mother? Will they be sad that they'd have to grow up without their grandparents?" Tears started to roll down my face and I choked on a sob.

I feel a hand land on my shoulder and look up to see Laxus standing next to me with a look of worry on his face. "You okay, Blondie?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Where are the children?" I ask, wiping the tears from my face, turning away.

"In class." he answers. Laxus gently grabs my chin and makes me look at him. "Look at me. Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it Laxus." I say brushing his hand away from me.

"It's not nothing, Blondie. If it was nothing then you wouldn't be standing here crying by yourself." he replied,

I sighed. "It really is nothing Laxus. I just got a little emotional talking to my parents."

"What did you talk about?" he asked.

"Well I told them about you since you are the only other person who has been here besides Master and Gray. I also talked about the children and how they'll grow up to become bright, strong mages someday."

"So what was it that made you cry?"

"It was talking about the children. How I got to thinking that my parents never even got to see the face of their first grandchild be born." I replied.

Laxus remained quiet for a moment then reached out and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Just because your parents aren't with you physically doesn't mean that they aren't still there for you. They live on in your memories, in your heart, and will always be watching over you through the rest of your life. They'll even be there for the birth of your children. I guarantee it."

I buried my face into Laxus' chest and tightened my arms around him. "Thank you, Laxus."

I pulled away from Laxus and smiled up at him. He grunted and turned away, but not before I caught a hint of a blush on his face. I gave a small giggle and walked back towards the mansion with Laxus following behind me.

~Laxus' POV~

What the hell was I thinking?! Getting all mushy like that. I might as well be wearing a freaking sign that read 'I'm in love with Blondie!'

I grunted as I turned away from Lucy, trying to hide the blush on my face. She started walking towards the mansion and I quickly followed. She led me to a hallway that held a large portrait of her and her parents. The three of them were dressed in their finest attire with Lucy sitting in the middle of her parents. They all had big smiles on their faces, including her father, Jude Heartfilia.

"Ojou-sama, Laxus-sama!" a voice called from down the hall. We turned to see Spetto walking towards us. "Ojou-sama, it is getting late. Will you and Laxus-sama be staying the night?"

"Laxus?" Lucy asked turning towards me. "What do you think we should do? Want to stay the night and take the first train home or do you want to try and catch the last train of the day?"

"We can stay the night and take the first train home. Gray should be back from his job by then and he'll probably want to see how you're doing." I replied. Lucy smiled and nodded as she turned to give Spetto her reply. The maid nodded and left to prepare the rooms that Blondie and I would be staying in.

~Time Skip: Laxus and Lucy returning back to the guild~

"We're back!" Lucy exclaimed as we walked into the guild. I saw that Gray had returned and began to make my way towards him.

"Hey," Gray said nodding as I walked towards him. "Anything happen?"

"Nothing too bad happened. Only incident was Natsu breaking into Blondie's apartment two nights ago while she was asleep. She started to have another 'episode' so I took her to my place for the remainder of the night. The next day we went to visit the children at the Academy where we decided to spend the night." I reported.

"So you met the kids, huh?" Gray smiled.

"Hyper bunch of brats, that's what they are."

Gray chuckled. "Yeah, when the kids first came to the Academy I was with Lucy and the kids all had star in their eyes and constantly asked me to show them my magic. Some even started to follow me around everywhere I went."

"That one kid with the messy orange hair did that. What's his name again?"

"Finny."

"Yeah, him."

"Laxus-sama!" I turned around to see the Raijinshuu walking towards me with what I could only assume was a job, in hand. "We've been personally asked to complete this job."

When the Raijinshuu reached where I was standing next to Gray, I reached out for the paper and read the details of the job. The job asked us to solve a problem concerning a lightning beast that had been terrorizing a town south of Crocus. I sighed.

"Alright, we'll head out immediately." I replied. I looked to Gray who nodded as if saying 'Don't worry, I'll look after Lucy.' I nodded back and made my way to my office where I kept an emergency pack, just in case surprise jobs came up, and knowing Gramps that happened frequently. I grabbed my things and walked back out into the bar and spotted Lucy. I walked towards her to tell her about the job.

"Hey, Blondie. I gotta go on an emergency mission with the Raijinshuu. Gray will look after you know. You'll need to stay at Gray's place until we come back and I get Freed to put runes around your place alright?" I reached into my pocket and pulled out an extra communications lacrima. "Here take this. If anything happens and Gray can't get to you, call me on this and I'll lightning teleport over to you. Got it?"

She took the lacrima and nodded. I put my hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

"Laxus!" She swatted my hand away and started fixing her hair. On my way out of the guild I was stopped when I heard Wendy call out to me.

"Laxus-oniisan!" She called, running after me.

"Wendy, what's wrong?" I ask.

"Um, you see, I was wondering if, you know, I could come along with you on your job." she mumbled.

"Sure, why not? You have everything you need to come along?" I replied. The sky maiden looked up with a big smile on her face and nodded enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Laxus-oniisan! I promise to work hard!" she exclaimed happily.

~Gray's POV~

"So Luce, what do you want to do today?" I asked.

"Can we go on a job?" she asked.

"Course we can!" We both got up and walked towards the request board. I looked over all the different requests seeing the variety of the jobs. Some jobs required helpers in businesses, others needed ancient texts translated, and of course there were the physical jobs asking for mages to save their village from either monsters, bandits, or dark guilds.

"Do you want to go on a simple job or one that's tougher?" She asked.

"Maybe, we should get out of the guild for a while. Let's go on a tougher one. Then we can ask Erza to come along as well. It's been awhile since you've spent some time with her right?" I answered.

"Sure! I'd love to spend time with Erza!" She exclaimed. Lucy reached up and grabbed a request asking for mages to investigate and infiltrate a gang that has been terrorizing a village and find out where all the missing villagers have gone. "How's this?"

"Hmm, looks pretty tough. Maybe we should get some extra help on this one…" Gray suggested.

"I'll do it!" a voice said behind us. We turned around to see Gajeel get up from his table and make his way towards us.

"Gajeel?"

"I can help with this one. For one, I look the part and second of all without Salamander around you'll need another dragon slayer on your team. Well, at least for a job like this one." He explained.

"Why not? He'll be a big help. Besides he's right too, he looks the part of a gang member. The rest of us….not so much." Lucy replied.

"Then we'll need disguises to make us look the part more. Also so that we don't get recognized as Fairy Tail mages." I said.

"I'll take care of our disguises. Virgo and Cancer will help us out." Lucy volunteered.

"Then it's settled, I'll help you guys out on this job." Gajeel said speaking up.

We walked up to Erza who was sitting at the bar eating a slice of strawberry shortcake and told her of the job we planned on taking and that Gajeel was to join us. She quickly finished her cake and brought the flyer over to Mira to be approved. After the job was written in the book of records she notified the employer that we would be on our way. We each quickly packed and were on our way to the train station, unaware of the salmon haired mage watching them as they left.

**A/N: Well that's it for this chapter! Hope you enjoyed that little bit of LaLu fluff. The next chapter will pick off with the job request and the Team (minus Natsu and plus Gajeel) going undercover. Keep an eye out for the next chapter and please leave a review! It would be much appreciated! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So here is the new chapter of The Choices We Make. Thank you for putting up with my hectic schedule and sticking with me. **

**To the user Doom Marine 24- This story isn't bashing on Natsu. I have absolutely no problem with Natsu, in fact I love Natsu as a character, and I even ship NaLu. It's just that I also like to ship Lucy with other characters as well. I understand if you don't agree on the LaLu pairing which makes me wonder why you even decided to read this fanfic when it obviously says that this is a LaLu story. It is rude of you to call me a shallow brain dead fangirl just because you don't like my story and you shouldn't assume that I care more about looks than personality because if you have read this story at all you should see plain as day that I try to go into Laxus' personality and feelings instead of having him flaunt around and honestly the only time looks was mentioned was once. So you don't have to feel obligated to read this if you don't want to. Thank you and have a nice day! **

**Anyway! Sorry for that little rant! This chapter picks up with the group starting their job. Hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review!**

Chapter 8:

~Gray's POV~

"So, what exactly are our disguises going to be?" I asked Lucy. We had already gone to see the employer and get the details of the job. The gang was known as the Shadow Basilisks and had reportedly been terrorizing and kidnapping citizens of the village. The employer to the job was the village head whose own daughter had been taken. We were asked to infiltrate the gang and to find and rescue the missing villagers. And in order to infiltrate the gang, we needed to look the part. We had checked into an inn and gotten a room that would fit all four of us for the night. I had to admit that the suite was kind of extravagant, it included a sitting are, two bedrooms each containing two queen sized beds, as well as a giant bathroom.

"You'll see." She smiled. She reached into her pouch and pulled out two golden keys. "Open! Gate of the Giant Crab, Cancer! Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo!" A bright light appeared and the two zodiac spirits were summoned from their gates.

"Punishment time, Hime?"

"Ebi!"

"No, Virgo there won't be any punishments. We need your help. We'll be going undercover in a gang and we need disguises. Gajeel looks the part, but we still need to make sure he isn't recognized as a Fairy Tail mage, the rest of us however, need a little more work than that. Think you can help us out?" She asked her spirits.

"Of course, Hime. I will prepare suitable clothing for all of you," Virgo bowed and disappeared.

"I will change your hairstyles in order to make you less recognizable, ebi!" Cancer replied.

"Thank you so much!" exclaimed the blonde. As Cancer began to change Lucy's hair, Virgo reappeared with her arms filled with dark colored clothing. Virgo handed each of us a pile of clothes and we separated into different parts of the suite to change with me taking the bathroom. After I finished changing I turned to look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a pair of ripped black jeans with a pair of dark colored boots. I wasn't given a shirt, but was instead given a long gray coat. I made my way back to the main sitting room to see that Lucy was done getting her hair changed and had dressed in the clothes that Virgo had brought her. She wore very short gray shorts with black combat boots, her shirt was a dark purple ripped crop top with a leather vest overtop. Her hair was styled so that her hair covered half of her face and her fringe was dyed black. She no longer looked like the cute and innocent Light of Fairy Tail.

"How do I look?" She asked.

"Badass." I replied. I ruffled her hair and chuckled as she tried to fix it again.

"Here it's your turn now." Lucy led me to the chair in front of Cancer and let him get to work.

~Lucy's POV~

I left Gray to Cancer and made my way out of the room. I decided to call Laxus and tell him about the job in case he were to get back to the guild before us and wonder where we were. I pulled the communications lacrima out of my shorts and thought about Laxus, connecting the call.

"Blondie?" Laxus said when his face showed up on the lacrima. "What's wrong? Are you in trouble? What's with the getup?"

"I'm fine Laxus." I giggled. "Nothing's wrong."

"Alright, then what's with the getup?" he asked.

"I'm on a job with Erza, Gray, and surprisingly Gajeel. We're supposed to go undercover in the gang Shadow Basilisk and find some missing villagers. This is my disguise so that I'm not recognized as Lucy of Fairy Tail. What do you think?"

"Not bad, Blondie." Laxus responded.

"Thanks!" I smiled.

"Hey Blondie, promise me something, okay?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll be careful." He said. "Promise that you'll stick close to Gray or at least one of the others."

"I promise." I responded seriously.

"Lucy! Everyone's ready, we're gonna head out soon!" Erza called from within the suite.

"Coming!" I called back. "I should get going. I just wanted to let you know what we were doing in case you got back before we did and we weren't there."

"Alright, good luck Blondie." Laxus replied. The connection cut off and I shoved the communication lacrima back into my pocket. I turned and walked back into the room to see everyone dressed in their disguises. Gray wore a long gray coat with black pants and boots, his hair was spiked up and out of his showing off the scar above his left eyebrow. Erza was just exactly like Knightwalker was including the hair style that covered her eye. Gajeel wore baggy brown pants with rips with a black sleeveless shirt that he kept open, his hair was kept long, but was styled much like how future Rogue had his hair. I saw that everyone had also found ways to cover up their guild marks so that we wouldn't be discovered as Fairy Tail mages. Erza's mark was covered by the sleeves n her arms while both Gray and Gajeel had used make-up to put scars overtop of the marks. I had chosen to wear fingerless gloves to cover the mark on my right hand.

"What do you think, Gajeel? Do we look the part now?" I asked the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"Definitely better than your previous looks. Especially you, Bunny Girl." He chuckled.

"Bunny Girl?!" I exclaimed.

"Gihi."

"Whatever, let's just start the job. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll finish." Gray said.

"Gray is right." Erza said speaking up. "Let's go over the plan one more time. The four of us will join the Shadow Basilisk gang. Then once we infiltrate the gang we will split up and begin searching for the missing villagers. However, we will need to exercise caution. We can't all go looking around at the same time. Gray and Lucy, you will be the distractions, Gajeel you will look for the villagers, and I will try to get in close to the leader and take him out. No matter what do not blow your cover, if it seems like your cover is about to be blown you may take whatever measures deemed necessary to prevent that. Does everyone understand?"

We all nodded in agreement. After making sure that we had everything we need we left the inn and made it to the gang's headquarters. Outside the headquarters were stationed guards who looked up at our approach.

"Who the hell are you?! This is Shadow Basilisk territory so you better leave if you know what's good for ya!" one of the guards exclaimed.

"Shut up will you?" Gajeel growled. "We're here to see your boss. Tell him we want in."

"Think you're good enough to join our gang do ya?" asked the other guard. "Alright then, we'll get the boss. If he thinks you're worthy enough then we'll let you join. If not, well then you'll get one hell of a beating."

The two guards laughed sadistically as the first guard made his way into the building. It didn't take long for him to come back with another man twice his size. The "boss" was huge, maybe around the size of Elfman after he had bulked up. The man was covered in scars all over his body including one that went down the entire side of his right face.

"Well, what do we have here? Looks like four little punks who want to join the gang." The man bellowed out. His voice was deep and raspy and sent shivers down my spine. "So what makes you think you that you're good enough for my gang?"

"We can fight, meaning we'd be a big asset to your gang." Erza said.

"Is that so? Well, we'll just have to test that statement." The boss whistled loudly and four more people emerged from the building. The first was a man with long silver hair tied back into a braid. He had piercing red eyes and wore a sadistic smirk. The second was a man with choppy green hair that covered both of his eyes. He raised his arm and rubbed at his eyes sleepily. The third was a woman who scarily reminded me of Minerva. She had long raven colored hair that was tied up into ponytail with hollow black eyes. The last person to emerge from the building was covered head to toe in a long black coat making it hard to determine the person's gender. "These four are part of my inner circle. Beat them and you can join the gang. However, if you lose they will take pleasure in killing you."

The four of us looked at each other and nodded. We had agreed earlier on to not use magic in case someone would recognize us from that. We would have to rely on our fighting skills alone for this. I gulped, but kept my face of indifference. I knew that the others would be fine. They were already physically capable of taking on these guys, but myself however, I was worried about. I knew that I could fight, I had always fought alongside my spirits. But the question is, would it be enough?

The boss gestured for his four members to attack us and the battle began. The green haired man went straight for Erza, the woman went for Gajeel, and the hooded man went for Gray. That left me against the silver haired man with the sadistic smile.

"Let's see what ya got girlie." He taunted. I reached for my whip and snapped it at him. "Feisty. I like that. Maybe instead of killing you, I'll keep you around to be my woman."

"As if!" I shouted. The man smirked and ran towards me, arm drawn back ready to punch. I flipped back and landed a good distance away from him. I drew back my arm and snapped it at the man once again, but this time I had snagged hold of his ankle and using all of my strength I flung him across the air and into the building's wall.

"Not bad." He grunted getting up off the ground where he had fallen. He lunged toward me and landed a kick into my side pushing me back a couple of feet.

_Damn it, _I thought. _He's good._ I flung my whip at him and snapped it across his face, leaving a long gash that began to bleed. I smirked, "Sorry did I hurt your pretty little face?"

"You'll pay for that little girl!" the man lunged forward once again and threw a barrage of punches. I was able to dodge the majority of the punches, but some managed to get through my guard and hit me in the stomach. I jumped away and coughed up some blood.

_That's it! Time to get serious._

I hurled my arm as hard as I could toward the man and was able to wrap him in my whip. I rushed towards him and punched him much like Loke does when he uses Regulus Punch. The man flew back and to finish him off I landed a swift Lucy Kick to the guy's face, knocking him out. I panted as I looked around to see how the others did in their fights. Erza seemed to have finished off her opponent fairly quickly and had her leg on top of the poor guy's head, holding him down. Gajeel had just finished his fight as well with a quick punch to the girl's stomach. Gray was sitting on top of his knocked out opponent and gave me a thumbs up.

We looked at the boss who nodded in approval and gestured for us to follow him into the building. As we gathered ourselves and walked past the guards we saw them look at us with their jaws hanging open. I smirked. We had done it. We were in.

**A/N: So that is chapter 8! I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review, it would be much appreciated! **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hey! So here is the next chapter for The Choices We Make I really hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. All of the reviews make me really happy and encourage me to write more, I would especially like to thank ****kurahieiritr JIO. The review you left honestly made my entire day, and it had been a pretty crappy one since I had found out that my father was admitted into the hospital. So thank you very much for your review I really appreciated it! I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

Chapter 9:

~Gray's POV~

We followed the boss into the Shadow Basilisk headquarters. As soon as we entered the building we saw that the main room was the gang's beer hall and was filled with multiple kinds of gangsters. The boss walked to the front of the hall and sat heavily in a large chair, beckoning us over to him.

"Since you four have proven to me that you are worthy enough to join my gang and have beaten four of my inner circle, I will allow you to take their places. Lucky for you, being part of my inner circle means that you have power over those below you and report solely to me. You will also act as my personal guards when we leave headquarters and directly act out any orders I see fit. Understood?" the boss explained.

"Yes, boss." We all replied. I looked over to Lucy and saw that she was a little nervous, she had taken notice to the leers she was receiving from the men in the hall. Anyone else looking at her wouldn't notice the nervousness, but I knew Lucy. In order to try offering Lucy comfort, I nonchalantly draped my arm over her shoulders. I turned to glare at those who were staring at Lucy, letting loose a killing aura. Many backed off once they caught my glare, but some were still foolish enough to stare. The boss laughed as he watched the exchange.

"Attention! These four are new recruits and will be part of my inner circle! You will now report directly to them!" he bellowed. "Why don't you four go ahead and introduce yourselves to your new subordinates?"

"Name's Silver." I say. I had decided to use my father's name. After I fought him during the Tartaros incident, he'd been on my mind frequently. The father I believed to have been killed along with my mother, Mika, murdered by the monster Deliora who was born from the Book of Zeref. When my father was freed he ended up bestowing me with his demon slaying magic.

"Layla." Lucy responds. It was obvious why she chose that name. It was after all, her mother's name.

Erza steps up and gives her alias after Lucy. "I am Knightwalker."

We all turn to look at Gajeel who tells his name with a grunt. "Metalicana."

The boss nods and turns back to look at the rest of the Shadow Basilisk members. "Silver, Layla, Knightwalker, and Metalicana will be your new leaders and my new guards. Do what they tell you to do and no one gets hurt. They have full authority to dish out any punishments that they feel you all deserve." He chuckled. "Now, everyone get back to work!"

"Listen up," Erza whispered. "We should split up as planned. Gajeel start looking for those missing villagers. Gray, Lucy, start with the distractions. When the time is right, I'll go for the boss."

We nodded in agreement all set off to work. Gray and I walked to where the majority of the gang was located and started looking around. Gray had his arm draped around me, and I had my arms crossed in front of me. We gave off an aura of power to try and intimidate the gang members.

"Hey Blondie, why don't you ditch that pretty boy over there for a real man?" someone chuckled. We turned to see a group of men crowded around the bar.

"What was that?" I asked, darkly.

"Come on sweetheart, we figured you were slow, but we didn't think you'd be this slow." Said the man in the middle of the group. The man had thin, greasy, black hair that was slicked back. He wore a leather jacket showing off his stomach and chest and wore ripped up jeans with black combat boots. The beer in his hand certainly contributed to his beer gut. "Leave the pretty boy, we can show you some real fun."

Gray went to make a move when I placed a hand on his chest, signaling him to back off. I could handle this just fine. I smiled and walked towards the men, who began to laugh and whistle as I made my way over. When I reached the bar where the men were gathered, I shifted my weight to one foot and brought the one up, kicking the man square in the face. The man flew back across the room smashing into a wall on the other side of the hall.

"You say that you're a real man? Well a real man would have been able to dodge that kick." I reply harshly. "Is this all that you're capable of? Not even strong enough to hold your own against a little girl?"

"You're gonna pay for that!" another man shouted. A friend from the guy I had just kicked ran up behind me, his arm drawn back in a punch. Just as his arm was about to make contact with my head, I reached up and grabbed his arm, flipping him over my shoulder and to the ground.

"I'm going to pay for what now?" I asked haughtily.

"Don't forget boys. Layla here destroyed one of the boss's old guards and took his place. I wouldn't underestimate her." Gray chuckled. More of the gang members started to get angry as I beat up more of their buddies and soon enough a full on brawl was happening. Gray eventually joined in and helped me to fend off the pissed off gang members as we heard the boss laugh obnoxiously. Eventually all the gang members present, were on the floor unconscious.

"Silver! Layla! Good job showing these buffoons what real strength is! All they do is laze around on their asses, drinking booze all day." The boss complimented. "With you new recruits as my guards the Shadow Basilisk gang will be undefeatable!"

From the corner of my eye I saw Gajeel emerge from a hallway and nod towards me. He had found the missing villagers. That was quick. At least we wouldn't have to stay here any longer. I turned and searched for Erza. I found her standing just behind the boss and gave her a look letting her know that Gajeel had completed his task. She nodded in response and stepped up next to the boss.

"Too bad we won't be sticking around long enough to help you." Gray spoke up.

"What do you mean by that, Silver?" the boss asked, confused.

"He means that we are Fairy Tail, and we are here to disband your guild." Gajeel says, stepping beside me and Gray.

"Fairy Tail?!" the boss exclaims.

Just as the boss is about to turn around, Erza requips into her Heaven's Wheel armor and had multiple swords pointing towards him

"T-Titania…" the boss stutters. He slumps to the ground, knowing that he would never be able to beat the queen of the fairies.

"Well… that was a little anticlimactic." I state.

"True, but this way we go back to the guild earlier than we expected." Gray responds.

"Rune Knights are on their way to pick up the trash." Gajeel says walking back over. We turn to see the missing villagers following Gajeel out from the back hallway and making their way over to us. The group mainly consisted of young women and children.

"Thank you Fairy Tail! We owe you our lives. Shadow Basilisk had plans to sell us to slave traders. You have just saved us from a lifetime of slavery." They expressed gratefully.

"You're free now. Free to live your lives the way you choose to." I replied back, smiling. As we waited for the Rune Knights to show up, Gray and I went around to make sure that no one was injured or needed medical attention. By the time we finished our inspections the Rune Knights had shown up and proceeded to arrest the Shadow Basilisk members and escort the villagers back home. We collected our reward and headed back to the guild.

**A/N: Hey so I know that I don't usually put notes at the end of my chapters, but in case you were wondering why it took me so long here is my explanation. As I said at the top my dad was admitted in the hospital for a while, but after a week was discharged with a clean bill of health. I got pretty busy with helping out around the house and then I moved into college whoo! AU '19! Anyway college life has taken some time to get used to and I started writing again as a way to relieve some stress and to take my mind off of unfortunate events that have occurred recently. On Halloween and dear friend of mine passed away in a car accident and I missed his funeral. I just want to say RIP to my good friend Josh. Fly High. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So! Here we are with another update for The Choices We Make! I know that it has taken me forever to update but I have been home and am on semester break from college and I needed some time to unwind and to catch up on my life back home again. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and don't forget to leave a review!**

Chapter 10:

~Lucy's POV~

"We're home!" I exclaim when we enter the guild.

"Lu-chan!" Levy shouts as she runs to embrace me. "You guys are back early!"

"It was easier than we thought it would be." Gray says responding for me.

"Ne, Levy-chan. Do you know if Laxus is back yet?" I ask the blue haired girl in front of me.

"Hmm, last I heard was that he was still out on that mission with the Raijinshuu that Master sent them on. I'm not sure when he's going to be back though." She replies.

"Why are you wondering about Laxus, Lucy?" Erza asks me.

"Oh! He mentioned having Freed put up runes around my apartment to prevent another, ahem, intrusion." I say quickly, turning to walk towards to the bar and hide the blush on my face. "Mira-chan! Could I get a strawberry milkshake?"

"Of course, Lucy! Welcome back!" the barmaid responds cheerfully. Mira quickly places the drink in front of me knowing that it was my favorite and already having it made.

"Lu-chan, there's something we should talk about." Levy says seriously.

"What is it?"

"Let's go somewhere quieter." Levy leads me to the back of the guild to where Gajeel sits alone chomping on iron. As she sits down next to the iron dragon slayer I sit across from them. "We should talk about Natsu.

I sigh. "I honestly don't remember who he is, Levy-chan. Every time I try to, my head starts to hurt. Both Laxus and Gray think that it is wise for me to try and not remember him. Each time I try, I can see the looks of worry that they have when they see me in pain. What do you think I should do? I need to know what happened to me to have me entirely forget a person. Will you tell me, Levy-chan?"

"I can only tell you what I know, but I will try." She replies. "What I know is that on your last mission with him, something…bad happened. You ended up severely hurt. According to Gray you were with Natsu when he left you to go save Lisanna. That was when you got hurt. Gray frantically ran into the guild carrying you, shouting for Wendy to heal you. When she did heal you with the help of Porlyusica, it took you two weeks to awaken and when you did, that is when Laxus had discovered that you no longer remembered Natsu Dragneel. That was only confirmed when Natsu came up to you and you had no idea who he was.

"When you were asked all those questions on how you came to Fairy Tail, what your first mission was, and what team you were on, you filled the missing space of Natsu in your memories with other people. You had said that it was Happy alone who brought you to the guild, when really it was Natsu. That mission to find Macao on Mt Hakobe wasn't with Gray, it was with Natsu. Your team isn't called Team Gray, its Team Natsu. Before the accident you and Natsu were best friends, practically inseparable. You losing your memories of him has changed him. He is no longer as happy and energetic as he used to be. He doesn't start fights anymore, he doesn't go any jobs and when he does come in the guild all he does is mope in a corner."

"Were we really that close, that I would have this much of an impact on him?" I ask the blue haired girl.

"I don't want to sound like Mira, with all her match making theories, but I honestly think that he is love with you." Levy replied.

"In love with me?" I repeat, puzzled. "If he was in love with me then why did he leave me for Lisanna?"

"I don't know for sure, but maybe it was because he believed in you to be okay while he rescued his nakama. I guess he forgot to think about the toll your magic has on your body. He was so caught up in the fight that he forgot that holder magic takes a lot out of someone compared to those with magic types like his and Gray's." Levy answered.

I let her words sink in and try to think back to my first encounter with Natsu Dragneel. I remember sitting in the guild with everyone around me when he came into the guild hall. He had immediately ran up to me and had hugged me. He had called me Luce. When I had told him that I didn't know who he was I could see the heartbroken look in his eyes.

A pounding in my head stopped me from thinking further on the subject. I clutched my head in pain and let out a whimper.

"Oi, bunny girl you okay?!" Gajeel exclaims as I fall from my seat and on to the floor.

Before I blacked out I heard Levy shout, "Lu-chan!"

~Gray's POV~

"Oi, bunny girl you okay?!" I heard Gajeel exclaim. I turned just in time to see Lucy fall and Gajeel barely catch her before her head hit the ground.

"Lu-chan!" Levy shouted.

I rushed from my seat at the bar over to where Gajeel and Levy were crouched on the ground over Lucy. The rest the guild had gathered around the Celestial Spirit Mage to see what had happened.

"Lucy! What happened to her?" I demanded.

"She asked me to tell her about Natsu so I told her what I knew about the accident. She was fine until I had stopped talking. It looked like she was trying to remember him on her own and then all of a sudden she fell over clutching her head!" Levy responded.

"You shouldn't have told her about that flame brain!" I shouted. "It's his fault that she ended up forgetting him anyway!"

"Gray!" Mira exclaimed.

"You know I'm right!" I told the barmaid.

"It is not Natsu's fault! The one to blame is the mage who attacked her. Besides it is not your say on whether Lucy should know the truth or not. It's her decision. Levy would never lie to Lucy!" Mira countered.

"I know it's not my decision, but I wanted to prevent this!" I take Lucy in my arms and carry her into the infirmary. I lay her down on one of the beds and stay by her side, waiting for her to awaken.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well hello readers! I just want to say that you guys are freaking amazing! Each time I update I get so many emails saying that someone new has favorited/followed this story and that honestly makes me so happy, not to forget that your reviews are an awesome pick me up. I am so grateful that you guys are supporting me in this story! So I am dedicating this new chapter to all of you AMAZING readers! Sorry that it has been a while. College had become overwhelming and I needed to take a much needed break and focus on my studies. However, my finals have passed and I am out for the summer! (Though I might be taking some extra summer courses.) Anyway! Here is chapter 11 of The Choices We Make! Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!**

Chapter 11:

~Laxus' POV~

"Finally we're done with that ridiculous job!" Ever exclaimed happily.

"It was too easy for you isn't that right, Laxus-sama?" Freed said walking beside me.

"My babies had fun." Bickslow laughed.

"Fun! Fun! Fun!" his dolls chimed in.

"It wasn't all that bad!" Wendy exclaimed. I smiled at the young girl and hoisted her up onto my back causing her to giggle and wrap her arms around my neck.

"Oi, Freed, when we get back I need you to do something for me." I say to the runes mage.

"Anything for you, Laxus-sama." Freed replied.

"I need you to set up some runes around Blondie's place. That flame brain broke in and tried to force Blondie to listen to him. I thought it would be safer if you put up some runes. Master wants to keep Natsu away from her until she remembers on her own. Not to forget how many times Blondie gets kidnapped from different weirdoes. I figured that your runes would do a good job of protecting her." I explain.

"Of course, Laxus-sama. I agree that my runes will give Lucy-san the best protection for when neither you nor Gray are with her." Freed agreed. "You really care for her, don't you?"

"You already know the answer to that." I replied back.

"Yes, I do." Freed answered. "We should hurry back then. The sooner we get back the sooner I can put those runes up around Lucy-san's home. Besides, that also means that Ever won't complain as much." I grunted in response and headed straight for the guild.

"Ne, Laxus-oniisan?" Wendy said from her spot on my back.

"Yeah?"

"I think you and Lucy-san would make a nice couple." She giggled.

"Is that so?" I ask.

"Yes! Sometimes you seem to be moody, but whenever Lucy-san is around you brighten up. Others might not notice it, but I do since I'm a dragon slayer!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Well, Lucy is known as the Light of Fairy Tail." I reply.

"Yeah, but it's different with you. I can see how your eyes seem to follow and longer on her, and you always have a look of longing for her." Wendy insisted.

"Have you been spending a lot of time with Mira? You seem to be picking up on her match making habit." I grumble.

Wendy just giggled and tightened her arms around my neck.

We reached the guild and slammed the doors open, only to find a silent Fairy Tail, which was never a good sign.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

"Oi, Laxus. You should head up to the infirmary. Bunny girl had another episode about an hour ago. She's up there now with the stripper." Gajeel says walking up to us. I nod and immediately head towards the infirmary with Wendy still hanging onto my back. When I walk in I see Gray helping Lucy sit up in the bed.

"What happened?" I say making my way to Lucy's bedside and setting Wendy down so that she could check the blonde for any injuries.

"Laxus!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Don't make me repeat myself again Blondie."

"Nothing happened." Lucy sighed. "I was just talking to Levy-chan and I got a headache all of a sudden and I guess I passed out."

"Blondie, you only pass out from headaches when you try to remember that flame brain. What exactly were you talking about with Levy?"

"I asked Levy-chan to tell me what happened on that mission where I got hurt. She told me what she knew and she told me a little about my past with Natsu. She told me that even since I lost my memories of him, that he's been moping around the guild. She also told me that the reason he's acting like this is because…"

"Because why, Blondie?" I asked, agitated.

"Is because he's in love with me…" Lucy murmured.

I sighed. "Listen Blondie. The more you try and force yourself to remember Natsu, the more pain you're going to be in. You could cause some pretty serious damage if you continue to do this to yourself. If you're meant to remember the salamander then you'll remember, besides you could always just make new memories with that idiot once your condition improves."

"But- "

"He's right Lucy. Once we figure out everything that's wrong with you and we fix it, you need to stop forcing yourself to remember that damn flame brain. It'll come back on its own and even if it doesn't that doesn't mean that it's the end of the world. But for now, stay away from Natsu and stop trying to figure things out." Gray said, interrupting whatever Lucy had planned on saying.

"Fine!" Lucy pouted. "So how much longer do I have to stay in this stupid bed? I'd like to go back to my own apartment today."

"There isn't anything wrong with you at the moment, Lucy-san. So you're free to leave and go home whenever you want." Wendy said after inspecting the blonde.

"Thanks Wendy!" Lucy smiled and began to remove herself from the bed. Gray helped her up and gathered her things for her.

"Good job Wendy." I say to the young girl and ruffle her hair.

"Thank you, Laxus-oniisan, but I didn't do all that much." Wendy replied.

"Still, good job on doing what you can."

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter was short, I need to get back into the swing of things. I hope you liked the bonding between Wendy and big brother Laxus and sorry that he was OOC. Don't forget to leave a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey guys! Here is another chapter of The Choices We Make! Sorry I didn't update as soon as I could. I've actually been taking some extra classes at a community college over the summer to get some credits out of the way and it ended up being a while since my last update and now the semester is about to start up again, so sorry again that I haven't been updating as frequently as I would like. **

**In response to ****kurahieiritr JIO: While I agree that Natsu is probably too dense to notice things like love, but I feel like there are t a lotimes in the manga where I feel like Natsu may be on the brink of noticing any feelings he has for Lucy and prioritizes her safety and wellbeing over any others, plus I do ship NaLu. But since this is a fanfiction, I made it so that Natsu is in love with Lucy. **

**Anyways! Hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to leave a review!**

Chapter 12:

~Laxus' POV~

I followed behind Lucy as she pouted all the way to her apartment. She was still upset that we had told her to stop trying to remember that flame brain. I thought about what she had said, about how Levy told her that Natsu was in love with her. I had always figured that he was too dense to notice things such as love, and even if he did notice, I thought that he would have had feelings for Lisanna, considering that they were always together before she "died".

"Stop pouting, Blondie. It'll give you wrinkles." I say as I follow behind her.

"Shut up, Laxus! And you're blonde too!" She exclaimed.

"Look, Blondie. I get that you want to get your memories back as soon as possible. However, every time you try to remember, you just end up hurting yourself. Everyone is worried about you and no one wants to see you get hurt. I get that you want to remember for yourself, but I also know that you want to remember for Salamander's sake. You know that by forgetting him, you've hurt him and you being you, you don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're right. I want to remember because I don't want to hurt anyone. From what everyone has been telling me, Natsu was my best friend. He was the reason I came to Fairy Tail and found a new home, a new family. I can't even begin to imagine how he must feel, especially if what Levy-chan said was true. But I can't just sit around doing nothing. I feel like without those memories, a part of me is missing. I feel incomplete without them. So I need to remember, Laxus. I can't spend the rest of my life feeling incomplete." She pleaded.

"The guild is doing everything that it can to help you. You just need to trust us to find a way to get back your memories. But in the meantime you can't keep hurting yourself trying to remember. That'll just set us back. So promise me Blondie that you will leave this too us. If something comes to you naturally, then that's fine, but don't try to force it." I say, lecturing the blonde.

"Alright, I promise." She replies.

"You gotta mean it this time, blondie." I say eyeing her.

"I do mean it, Laxus. I will trust you and the guild to help me get my memories back and I will just go with what everyone decides and I will no longer force myself to try and remember Natsu." She promises.

I nod in satisfaction and follow Lucy into her home. She immediately goes to shower and I make myself comfortable on her couch and place my sound pods over my ears and close my eyes. I must have drifted off because the next time I opened my eyes, Lucy was in the kitchen making dinner. I stand up from the couch and make my way into the kitchen to see what she had decided to make us. She had decided on making a hearty helping of beef stew. I helped Lucy move the food to the table and sat down to enjoy the meal.

"Ne, Laxus?" Lucy asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you care about me so much? You never used to pay this much attention to me before."

"I don't know, Blondie." I lied. I knew why I cared. It was because I was in love with her. She was the Light of Fairy Tail. She cared for everyone in the guild including someone like me. She always placed the wellbeing of others over her own. This situation was a perfect example of that. "I guess I've just changed from how I used to be. Being exiled from the guild really threw my life into perspective. I never really knew what I had until I lost it. So when I came back, I had already learned to appreciate everything that I had. I now know how important nakama is. Most of us in the guild didn't have the best childhoods and we all had our own situations. However, the guild became our new home and became our new family."

"Well, I'm glad that you changed. You seem happier than before, not as grumpy." She smiled. "Hey, do you think that we could go on a job sometime soon? I don't want to just sit around my house waiting for someone to get my memories back. Besides, I need rent money."

"Whatever, Blondie. We can stop by the guild tomorrow and pick something out. The Raijinshuu will most likely want to tag along as well so we might even head out on an S-class job." I reply.

"An S-class? Do you think I'm ready for that?" Lucy asks.

"Listen, Blondie. You're a strong mage. Holder magic is a lot different than caster magic. From what I can tell and what I knew of Karen Lilica, it is extremely difficult to have two gates open at once. You can summon two gates as well as keep them open for a significant amount of time not to mention switch out zodiac gates simultaneously. You were able to beat Bickslow not once, but twice. You would've won against Flare in the GMG if it weren't for Obra interfering. I have a feeling that for the next S-class exams that you will be one of the participants." I say. "Besides, if I recall correctly you've already been on an S-class job before."

"Oh yeah. The Galuna Island incident with Lyon and Deliora. I was with Gray, Happy, and eventually Erza." She furrows her brow. "But there's a chunk of my memory missing from that time. I'm guessing that has something to do with Natsu, huh?"

"Yeah." I sigh. "Enough about this tonight, Blondie. Go to bed, I'll clean up here then crash on your couch and tomorrow we can go pick out that job request." I say standing up and collecting all our dishes, then bringing them to the kitchen to be washed.

"Thank you, Laxus. Good night."


End file.
